Hanger bar and raceway fitting



Dec. 4, 1962 R. D. cooK ETAL 3,066,904 HANGER BAR AND RACEWAY FITTING Original Filed April 22, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS. F g lab Raymond 0. Cook I g BY William A. Long 4/14 jg gaw r THE IR A TTOR/VE Y5 Dec. 4, 1962 R. D. COOK ETAL HANGER BAR AND RACEWAY FITTING Original Filed April 22, 1959 Fig.3

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l l I I I I I I I I I I Ffg.5

INVENTORS.

Raymond 0 Cook William A. Lang MM, 2114 W THE If? ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofifice 3,066,904 HANGER BAR AND RACEWAY FITTING Raymond is). (look and William A. Lang, Pittsburgh, Pa, assignors to Steei Qity Electric (10., Pittsburgh, Pin, a corporation of Pennsylvania Continuation of application Ser. No. 8tl8,199, Apr. 22, 1959. This application Indy 3, 1%1, Ser. No. 125,027 3 tllairns. (Cl. 248-342) This invention relates to hanger bar and raceway fitting and, more particularly, to an improved fitting for removably mounting lighting fixtures carried by fixed overhead supports. Our fitting can be used to connect raceways to suspended overhead hanger bars and to connect lighting fixtures to raceways.

This application is a continuation of Cook et al. application Serial No. 808,199, filed April 22, 1959.

With the ever-increasing cost of building construction and maintenance, every device by which existing procedures may be simplified, thereby reducing labor costs, is a valuable advance. Our invention accomplishes this result, providing a fixture support which is simple to con struct and easy to install and from which the fixtures can be easily removed for cleaning, repair or replacement. Prior supports have been difficult to install, requiring a workman, generally working over his head, to make several adjustments and alignments. Furthermore, the same dilficult procedure has been followed to remove the fixture and replace it. Our invention eliminates most of these difiiculties. Our fitting may be attached with ease to a lighting fixture, a substantial portion of the work being done at a workbench. Thereafter, the fixture may be removed from its support without affecting the alignment merely by removing two cotter pins which are in hinges so constructed that the pins cannot be completely removed therefrom and, consequently, cannot be lost.

We have shown presently preferred embodiments of our invention in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a light fixture, a raceway, and hanger rods secured to each other with our fittings;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of our fitting used to connect a hanger rod and raceway;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the parts shown in FIGURE 2 with a portion thereof shown in section;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of our fitting which is used to connect a fixture to a raceway; and

FIGURE 5 is a side elevation of the fixture support of FIGURE 4 with a portion thereof shown in section.

FIGURE 1 illustrates our invention in use to support a lighting fixture. Hanger rods 10, secured to a ceiling or some other fixed support, carry fittings 11 which are fastened to the free end of said rods, as hereinafter described. As best shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, each fitting 11 comprises a U-shaped three-sided sheet metal piece 12 including legs 12a and 12b and a base 120 closed by a fourth side 13 made from similar sheet metal. Each side of the three-sided piece forms substantially a right angle with an adjoining side. The open ends of the threesided pieces 12 have centrally located cutouts whereby side projections are formed which are rolled to form eyes 14. The edges of the fourth side 13 have centrally positioned projections which are rolled to form eyes 15. The three-sided pieces 12 and the fourth side 13 are dimensioned so that the eyes 14 and 15 will align forming hinges when the pieces are positioned to form a closed hollow box. Cotter pins 16 are inserted as hinge pins through the hinges formed by eyes 14 and 15 to hold the three-sided piece and the fourth side in position. The edge of the eye 14 nearest the head of the cotter pin 16 is crimped, as shown at 16a, after the cotter pin is inserted through the eye.

The cotter pins 16 are conventional except that one side of each open end is upset, as shown at 33. The upset portion causes the pins to fit tightly in the hinges and cooperates with the crimped edges 16a of the eyes to prevent the pins being completely removed from the hinge although allowing the pins to be removed sufficiently to release the fourth side piece 13.

A large circular opening 17 with its edge 17:: outwardly flared is provided in side 12a of the three-sided piece. A swivel nut 13 is attached to the hanger rod 19. The hanger rod is then inserted through the circular opening 17 in the fitting 11 and a second swivel nut 19 attached to the rod. The opening 17 is dimensioned so that the swivel nuts 18 and 19 will contact each other without touching the edges of the opening 17 in the hanger support, but the sloping surfaces around the opening 17 rest on shoulders 2d of nut 19 and hold the fitting in position. in positioning the fitting 11, the nut 19 is adjusted to hold the fitting at the proper elevation. Nut 18 is then brough down against the nut 19. Since the nuts contact each other within the circular opening and do not press the hanger support between them, the support can swing freely on the hanger rod 16} and any misalignment of the hanger rod can be compensated for.

A raceway 21 of conventional shape is supported within the fittings. The raceway 21 and the fittings 11 are dimensioned so that two sides of the fittings bear against the raceway holding it in position. It will also be noted from FIGURE 3 that the leg 12b of the threesided piece 12 on which the raceway 21 rests extends the full width of the raceway so as to give the raceway full support even when the fourth side 13 is not secured to the piece 12. Stated differently, portions of the leg 12b of the U-shaped piece which supports the raceway 21 extend equidistantly on either side of the vertical center line of the hanger rod 10, the fitting 11 and raceway 21. The result is that a workman can place the raceway 21 within the fitting and subsequently secure the fourth side 13 without danger of the raceway falling out of the fitting before the side 13 is secured. We have shown a raceway made from a U- shaped piece 22 having the upper open edges 23 bent inwardly and closed by a fourth side 24 which has its edges 25 bent inwardly and downwardly to engage the edges of the U-shaped piece. However, any suitable raceway may be used in our invention.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 5, one or more fittings 34 are attached to the lighting fixture along its length, two being shown in FIGURE 1. The fittings 34 are substantially the same as the fittings 11. They comprise threesided sheet metal pieces 26 forming legs 26a and 26b and a base 260 closed by fourth sides 27 as shown in FIG- URES 4 and 5. The open ends of the three-sided pieces 26 have centrally located cutouts forming side projections which are rolled to form eyes 28. The edges of the fourth side 27 have a centrally positioned projection which is bent outwardly forming a fiat surface 39, and the end thereof rolled to form eyes 29. The three-sided pieces and the fourth side are so dimensioned that the eyes 28 and 29 will align to form hinges when the pieces are positioned to form a closed hollow box. Cotter pins 31, identical to cotter pins 16, are inserted through the hinges formed by eyes 28 and 29 to hold the three-sided piece and the fourth side in position. The edge of eye 28 nearest the head of the cotter pin is crimped, as shown at 32. An upset portion 33a of the cotter pin cooperates with the crimped edge to prevent complete withdrawal of the pin from the eye 28, as previously described. The fittings 34 are dimenisoned so that fourth side 27 and the base 26c of the three-sided piece 26' bear against the raceway holding the hanger in position. The side 26a of the three-sided piece 26 which rests on the raceway 21 extends the full width of the raceway and supports the fixture in the same manner as the side 1212 of the fitting shown in FIGURE 3 which supports the raceway 21. Likewise, there is practically no danger of the fitting 34 and fixture secured to its falling off the raceway 21 before the fourth side 2'7 is secured to the fitting. The fiat portion 30 of the fourth side 27 brings the eyes away from the raceway thereby making the cotter pin 31 easily accessible. The fittings may be secured to the lighting fixtures in any conventional manner, for example, by bolts, as shown in FIGURE 5.

It is readily seen how simply a lighting fixture may be positioned by using our invention. After the hanger rods are secured, the fittings are secured thereto and positioned by simply tightening the swivel nuts on the rods. The hinged sides of the fittings are opened and a raceway is placed in the fixture and the fourth side is closed. A lighting fixture to which fittings have been secured is then placed on the raceway with our fittings surrounding three sides of the raceways. Thereupon, the fourth side of the fittings secured to the lighting fixtures is closed. The raceway 21 can be placed in the fittings 11 and the fittings 34 can be placed around the raceway 21 by one man holding the raceway or fixture in the middle. The raceway and the fittings 34 will stay in place until the fourth sides on the fittings 11 and 34 are secured.

To remove the fixture for cleaning or repair, the cotter pins of our fixtures secured to the lighting fixtures are withdrawn, the hinged sides are opened, and the lighting fixture is slid off the raceway.

The raceway can be removed in the same manner.

While we have described presently preferred embodiments of our invention, it is understood that it may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A fitting for raceways and lighting fixtures having means for attaching the fitting to a hanger rod, said means comprising a mounting opening in one side of the fitting, the edge of said opening being flared outwardly, and a pair of swivel nuts having sloping shoulders, one of said nuts being fastened to the rod above the fitting, and the second nut being fastened to the rod below the fitting and partially extending through said mounting opening to contact the first nut, the flared edges of said fitting being supported on the shoulders of the second swivel nut.

2. A fitting for raceways and lighting fixtures comprising a U-shaped, three-sided sheet metal piece, each side of said piece forming substantially a right angle with an adjoining side, the base of the U extending vertically when the fitting is in position to receive a raceway, one leg of the U having means for attaching the fitting to a hanger rod or fixture, the other leg of the U extending equidistantly on opposite sides of the vertical center line of the fitting when it is in position to give equal support on opposite sides of said center line to a raceway or fixture, hinges formed at the open end of the legs of the U, a fourth side disposed in a plane parallel to the base of the U and across the open end of the U, and hinge pins holding said fourth side to the U-shaped piece, at least one of said hinge pins being withdrawable.

3. A fitting for raceways and lighting fixtures comprising a U-shaped, three-sided sheet metal piece, each side of said piece forming substantially a right angle with an adjoining side, the base of the U extending vertically when the fitting is in position to receive a raceway, one leg of the U having means for attaching the fitting to a hanger rod or fixture, the other leg of the U extending equidistantly on opposite sides of the vertical center line of the fitting when it is in position to give equal support on opposite sides of said center line to a raceway or fixture, hinges formed at the open end of the legs of the U, a fourth side'disposed in a plane parallel to the base of the U and across the open end of the U, and hinge pins holding said fourth side to the U-shaped piece, at least one of said hinge pins being withdrawable, the leg supporting the raceway or fixture having such length that the base of the U-shaped piece and the fourth side bear against the sides of the raceway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

